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BLOCK ISLAND: 

A HAND-BOOK, WITH MAP, 

FOR THE GUIDANCE OF SUMMER VISLLORS, TELLING HOW, 

TO REACH THAT PLEASANT LITTLE PLACE OF 

RESORT, AND WHAT TO DO ON 

GETTING THERE : 

TOGETHEK WITH 

DESCRIPTION AND 

SENTIMENT CALCULATED TO ADORN 

AN OTHERWISE PLAIN TALE, AND TO 

EXCITE THE INTEREST OF THE APATHETIC, YET 

WITHOUT TOO WIDELY DEPARTING FROM THE STRICT TRUTH. 



By " BEN MUSH," 

Staff Correspondent of the Norwich Morning Kiilletir 



" And the pale health-seeker findeth there 
The wine of Hfe in its pleasant air." — Whittier. 



James Hall: Norwich, Conn. 
1877. 



■'i/ 



GHKAT SALT 




T.lsMiijOrAKnapp in^MffS ljtiiCo,56hrh Place SV 



BLOCK ISLAND: 

A HAND-BOOK, WITH MAP, 

FOR THE GUIDANCE OF SUMMER VISITORS, TELLING HOW 

TO REACH THAT PLEASANT LITTLE PLACE OF 

RESORT, AND WHAT TO DO ON 

GETTING THERE : 

TOGETHER WITH 

DESCRIPTION AND 

SENTIMENT CALCULATED TO ADORN 

AN OTHERWISE PLAIN TALE, AND TO 

EXCITE THE INTEREST OF THE APATHETIC, YET 

WITHOUT TOO WIDELY DEPARTING FROM THE STRICT TRUTH. 



By " BEN MUSH," 

Staff Correspondent of the Norwich Morning Bulletin. 



' And the pale health-seeker findeth there 
The wine of life in its pleasant air." — IVhittier. 



James Hall : Norwich, Conn, 
/>^ 1877. 




Entered according to the act of Congress, 

By James Hall, 

in the office of the Librarian of Congress, Washington, D. C, 



Printed by The Bulletin Company, Norwich, Conn. 






V, Block Island: A Hand-Book, 



WHY GO TO A SUMMER RESORT AT ALL ? 

,,^HERE are but few physiques with enough elasticity to 
-^Q) endure, without some slight interruption at times, the 
exhaustion of America's high-pressure social and busi- 
ness life, augmented as it is almost every year by the intensity 
of the summer's heat ; and even of those who are not particu- 
larly burdened with tasks and cares, there are but few to whom 
an occasional change of thought and surroundings does not 
afford both temporary gratification and more or less perma- 
nent and varied good. And so, overcome with ennui or the 
weather, or both, over-taxed in mind or body or depressed in 
spirits, all classes of humanity rush eagerly every summer to 
the woods, the mountains or the sea, for a longer or shorter 
stay, seeking that physical, mental or spiritual refreshment 
which the old routine, and "nature's sweet restorer" do not 
give at home. 

The industrious artizan, with or without his family, or per- 



4 BLOCK ISLAND : A HAND-BOOK. 

haps with gayly bedecked sweetheart, goes off for a day's sail 
and an old-fashioned shore dinner. The school mistress, worn 
out with her poorly paid labor and the innumerable vexations of 
a year, seeks, for a week or two, some quiet spot, where, amid 
the glories of nature and quite translated from her wonted 
environment, her cramped up soul can expand, her sweeter 
fancies, pent like the possibilities of a hyacinth bulb in win- 
ter, revive and blossom, and her material system derive a 
fresh stock of much needed vigor. The thriving tradesman, 
who wants his wife and daughters to take just as much comfort 
out of life, put on just as much style, and see just as much of 
the world, its beauties, celebrities and wonders as his next door 
neighbor's, or a little more, benevolently packs his family off to 
some favorite resort, and then goes after them himself. 

The languid invalid, either morbidly making a martyr of her- 
self by concealing from solicitous friends her real condition or 
exaggerated fears, or else making martyrs of them by her 
moods and whims, is sent to try the virtue of a new society and 
climate. Parents with children who poorly bear the rigors of 
summer in the city, hasten to find more salubrious surround- 
ings for the sickly little ones. Some thoroughly heart-sick 
wife or mother, perhaps, whose bitter grief and state of mind is 
concealed from the world by a singularly sweet face and sym- 
pathetic manner, desperately seeks the utmost possible isolation 
from painful associations, and thus unconsciously regains her 
wonted peace and equilibrium, if not her former joy. 

Merchants and brokers, whose affairs have been complicated 



WHY GO TO A SUMMER RESORT AT ALL? 5 

and unprosperoiis ; lawyers and bankers, who have the custody 
of a score of burdensome trusts, beside their own personal busi- 
ness affairs; overwrought professional men, ministers to men's 
bodily and mental cravings or ailments, moulders of public 
opinion, statesmen, officers of the government, lay aside their 
several duties like an oppressive garment ; and in fresh and 
hardy sports, in quiet communion with lovely and ever-teaching 
nature, or in delightful intercourse with chance acquaintances 
of experience and taste, gain new life and strength, new ideas 
of beauty, new philosophy, new memories, new purposes, and 
new inspirations to their several and manifold tasks. And not 
only men, but also women — women of large hearts and tender 
sympathies, of minds and of means, of high aims and social 
position, to whose modest but infinite influence the world is in- 
debted for far more than half of its true happiness, if not of its 
moral progress. 

Then, too, there are the butterflies of fashion who seek to 
know what flowers of idle pleasure, folly and excitement bloom 
without the too familiar pale of local society; the folks who 
find the city lonely when every one else has gone; the design- 
ing mothers of marriageable daughters ; the designing daugh- 
ters whose mothers let them go alone; the impecunious and de- 
signing but otherwise eligible young man ; and even more artful 
adventurers of both sexes, who thrive upon the weaknesses of 
mankind, and go to places of rendezvous for their prey. 

And so the catalogue might be spun out indefinitely : for the 
eight great classes of people who possess one or two, or all, or 



BLOCK ISLAND : A HAND-BOOK. 



none of the three chief agencies in the world — money, brains 
and principle — are sub-divided infinitessimally; and every one 
of these innumerable species of humanity has some occasion 
for patronizing the summer resort. 



WHY GO TO BLOCK ISLAND? 

But no spot under heaven, however charming, is equally 
well adapted to the diversified tastes of all these classes ; and 
no one will wisely seek any resort, however popular, without 
first having a tolerably fair idea how it differs from others, and 
how well suited it is to his or her peculiar needs. Hence this 
little sketch of Block Island's characteristics. 

In the first place, no " distinguished personages " habitually 
visit it. Gen. Grant was known to do so on one occasion ; but 
he only stayed a part of a day, and was so mortally sea-sick 
thereafter that he never again ventured within a hundred 
miles of the spot. No famous actresses nor merchant princes 
nor men of letters have here their tasteful villas. The closest 
approaches to a cottage on the island are a government life 
saving station as regards architecture, and a country farm- 
house in point of domestic economy. No landscape gardener 
has here plied his art, there being neither flower bed nor forest, 
shrub or grateful grove to be seen, even solitary shade or fruit 
trees being rare. 

There is no racing here. The Block Island horse that can 
go more than five miles an hour yet remains to be discovered, 



WHY GO TO BLOCK ISLAND? 7 

while few of them can more than keep up with an ox-team. 
Besides, the vehicles and roads are not especially conducive to 
quick transit. The only competition in speed to be witnessed 
hereabouts is between the numerous sailing craft that circum- 
navigate the island. Nor is there danger of youthful morals 
being debauched by either gambling or drink. A peaceful 
game of billiards, an evening of whist or euchre, and languid 
attempts at mumble-t'-peg, are the extremes of the former; 
while of the latter, even so moderate an indulgence as a 
soothing claret punch is only possible when one has brought 
his own Bordeaux, and is willing to sacrifice his own sweet 
idleness so far as to concoct the beverage himself. 

The only balls, properly so-called, yet witnessed on the 
island, have been of codfish and twine ; though more than one 
unostentatious, but thoroughly delightful dance, has been had 
with piano music at some of the hotels. These establishments, 
by the way, do not quite equal the Windsor or Grand Union in 
stupendous grandeur, appointments, fare or service. Flies have 
been found in the cream jug, and one often sits five minutes at 
the table without being able to secure attendance. But I shall 
have more to say of the hotels directly. 

Generally speaking, one may say that contact with modern 
civilization has, as yet, but faintly tarnished the prevalent 
primitiveness of the honest, staid old islanders, whose life is 
spent in sea-fishing and farming; who cure their cod in oderifer- 
ous huts, and gather for manure the sea-weed which is strewn 
by the tides upon the beach ; who ride and draw their produce 



8 BLOCK ISLAND : A HAND-BOOK. 

in ox-carts, along dusty, stone-walled roads, grind their corn 
in antiquated windmills, and stack their hay under a sheltering 
hillside ; from whom every wayfarer, stranger or friend, wins a 
salute, and to whom jails and constables are as useless as gar- 
ters are to whales. Indeed, such slightly impaired, unadorned 
simplicity and robustness of character is, in the present day, 
well worth going far to see. 

Besides this quaintness of scene and manner, and notwith- 
standing the apparent drawbacks at which I have hinted, the 
island has many substantial charms. 

The mild sea air is a most wonderful tonic ; and as the ocean 
surrounds the spot on all sides, this peculiar advantage is en- 
joyed to the utmost. The luxurious and invigorating salt water 
bath can be had here under favorable circumstances, the beach 
being one of the finest on the Atlantic coast, and having an 
advantage over almost all others in being better sheltered, and 
being washed by warmer water. The temperature of the air 
is always lower than upon the main land, usually ranging be- 
tween 70° and 80° in the shade through midsummer, and al- 
most never touching 90°. Moreover, some peculiar quality — 
the moisture, perhaps — of this sea air really makes the same 
degree of heat appreciably more tolerable than on the main 
land ; and in addition to this, there is an almost constant breeze 
playing through the verandas and shutters, night and day. 
Mosquitoes are not altogether unknown ; and yet they are nev- 
er seen except in unusually dry seasons, and then only in small 
numbers. 



WHY GO TO BLOCK ISLAND ? 9 

There is a much wider range of prices of board here than at 
most other resorts, the public houses varying in size and con- 
venience from the large, well appointed sea-side hotel to the 
modest farm-house ; and the latter are so nicely managed that 
if one has simple tastes and but limited means, and knows, in 
advance, what to expect, he will be very well suited with the 
accommodations ; while on the other hand, at the more preten- 
tious houses, most of the luxuries and refinements which a fas- 
tidious taste demands and wealth can alone supply, are attain- 
able with comparatively little difficulty. Custom allows a very 
wide latitude to choice in the matter of toilets, many ladies 
bringing to the island but a single dress beside their cambric 
wrappers, and boots and hats that have grown too shabby for city 
wear; gentlemen wearing all day their own cast-off winter 
clothing. At the same time, there are suitable opportunities 
for the display of diamonds, silks and lace, if one has a mind to 
expose such a wardrobe to the ravages of the moist sea air. 
Formality can be indulged in to almost any extent, but is not 
in the least obligatory. One can make as much of a hermit of 
himself as he likes ; yet most excellent society is to be found, 
Philadelphia, Chicago, Buffalo, Troy, New York, and Boston, 
and many nearer centres of culture contributing largely to the 
floating population of the island ; so that no one of true refine- 
ment and education can fail to find congenial company. 

He, too, who loves to commune with nature, as well as with 
his fellow man, and seeks the refreshment and renovation of 
his soul as well as of his body, has here the restless, change- 



lo BLOCK island: a hand-book. 

able, now soothingly quiet, now magnificently tumultuous sea, 
gorgeous sunsets and wide spreading views, gently undulating 
meadows, and some grand and picturesque cliffs. 

To sum up briefly, then, I should say that Block Island is a 
resort unusually free from the objectionable features of a fast 
American life possessing happily combined facilities for charm- 
ing, but subdued social intercourse and sweet retirement, a 
rarely salubrious climate, an excellent beach, and simple yet 
varied and inspiring scenery : as Avell adapted to those in hum- 
ble circumstances in life as to the more prosperous, and ad- 
mirably calculated to restore the sick in body and in soul. In- 
deed, the spirit of the place is admirably embodied in that 
poem of Whittier, " The wreck of the Palatine," which no one 
should fail to read who thinks of going there. 



ITS HISTORY AND TOPOGRAPHY. 

Before proceeding from the general to the particular features 
of the island, and offering a few practical suggestions to the 
visitor, it is perhaps worth while to very briefly hint at the his- 
tory of the place, and to hastily sketch its physical outlines. 
The history of Block Island, however, has been treated more 
comprehensively than would be consistent with either the 
character or limits of this work, by the Rev. S. T. Livermore, 
whose book will be given to the public this season, and may be 
relied on as both interesting and accurate. There are other 
excellent works of the kind also extant. Suffice it therefore to 



ITS HISTORY AND TOPOGRAPHY. II 

say here, that John Verrazzano, a Florentine explorer touched 
this island in 1524; and Adrian Blok, a Dutch navigator, after 
whom the island was named, in 1614. Neither of them, how- 
ever, established any settlement. English colonists from Con- 
necticut and Rhode Island had some trifling communication 
with the natives, who were Narragansett Indians, and whose 
name for the island was Manisees. In 1635 one John Oldham 
having ventured over from Saybrook with too little protection, 
was murdered by the savages, upon whom revenge was subse- 
quently wrought by an armed force despatched by Gov. En- 
dicott, of Massachusetts. By a grant from the civil authority 
of that colony, and by purchase from the natives, a title was 
acquired to Block Island in 1661 ; and a reservation being 
made for the maintenance of the gospel, the remainder of the 
land was equally divided, and the first permanent settlement 
established. In 1664 the residents were "notified that the col- 
onial government of Rhode Island regarded the plantation as 
within its jurisdiction; and in 1672 the town adopted the 
name of New Shoreham, its present post-office address. Upon 
this quiet beginning over two centuries of almost uneventful 
history and almost complete isolation from the main land have 
ensued, the French and English wars of the eighteenth cen- 
tury leading to some not very violent contests for possession, 
and the residents being subjected to quite trifling depredation. 
Her location prevented her people from taking any active 
share in the revolution, or in the war of 1812-14; but in the 
late civil war she sent volunteers to both the army and navy. 



12 BLOCK island: A HAND-BOOK. 



LOCATION. 



Long Island terminates at the east, in two long prongs; one, 
with a chain of islands reaching nearly to Watch Hill, Rhode 
Island, constituting an imperfect barrier across the sound ; and 
the other, part of a coast line which doubtless in some prehis- 
toric period reached out to Cuttyhunk, or Martha's Vin"eyard» 
but now is marked only by the solitary islet which bears the 
name of its Dutch discoverer. Block Island is about i6 miles 
east north-east of Montauk Point, and 14 south south-west of 
Point Judith ; and is distant, approximately, 25 miles from 
Newport, 50 from Providence, 32 from Stonington, 45 from 
New London, and 60 from Norwich. 

HOW TO GET THERE. 

One of the best facilities for reaching Block Island is the 
steamer of the Norwich and New London Steamboat Company, 
advertised in the appendix of this work. Last year the com- 
pany ran the Ella on this route, but this season will probably 
put on a new and swifter boat. The old one was staunch and 
comfortable, and managed by gentlemanly, cautious and skill- 
ful officers ; and the new one certainly will be, too. Until 
outside of Fisher's Island, off Stonington, the steamer on this 
line never experiences rough water; and from that point over 
to the island, even in bad weather (which is rare in the sum- 
mer season) the trip is short. This boat will run Mondays, 
Wednesdays, and Fridays. On the alternate week days the 



LOCATION. HOW TO GET THERE. I3 

Canonicus makes a like trip from Providence, touching at 
Newport. She, too, is a well appointed, well officered and safe 
conveyance. Besides these steamers, there was last year a 
sailing vessel from Newport to the island, carrying the mails, 
but undesirable for passengers. This may be replaced by a 
faster boat this season, making daily trips, but the details of 
the plan are not known at this writing. 

No New Englander need be told how to reach Providence, 
nor much about its hotels. If he be entirely ignorant on the 
latter point, let him consult the advertising appendix of this 
book. A simple inquiry on arrival will enable him to find the 
wharf of the Canonicus, which is not more than quarter of a 
mile from the railway station. 

Norwich is readily accessible from the north, east and west 
by rail. The New York and New England Railroad, which 
has become a favorite trunk route from Boston to New York 
and the west, leases the Norwich and Worcester road, and 
brings passengers to this city and to New London, at which 
latter place they may take the magnificent sound steamers of 
the so-called Norwich Line. The New London Northern Di- 
vision of the Vermont Central, which makes close connections 
with the Boston and Albany road at Palmer, and with the 
Hartford, Providence and Fishkill road at Willimantic, also 
passes through Norwich, its trains usually stopping at a dif- 
ferent station from those on the Norwich and Worcester road. 
Neither, however, is more than half a mile from the dock of 
the Block Island steamer. As the sail down the Thames, at 



14 BLOCK ISLAND : A HAND-BOOK. 

the head of which Norwich is situated, is particularly lovely in 
the summer time, many will prefer to take the boat at this 
point, if equally convenient in other respects, to doing so at 
New London or Stonington. 

New London, however, is perhaps preferable by those com- 
ing by way of New York, whether they take the spacious and 
luxurious steamers on the sound, or a through Pullman 
coach over the safe, smooth road of the Shore Line route. Pas- 
sengers wanting a good night's rest or a well served meal in 
New London, can find both at the Crocker house, not far from 
either railway station or landing. 



LOCAL TOPOGRAPHY. 

As will be seen, from the map in the front of this little volume. 
Block Island, in shape, somewhat resembles a pear, stem end up. 
It is about seven miles in length, and from three to four broad 
in the widest part. At the northern and south-eastern extremi- 
ties are light-houses. Its surface is a constant series of slight 
undulations, a large number of small ponds nestling here and 
there among the hillocks. Just north of the middle of the 
island is an immense pond which communicates with the ocean 
to the westward, and is therefore salt, and which so nearly di- 
vides the upper and lower parts of the island that one ap- 
proaching it from the north-westward thinks there are two in- 
stead of one. The next larger of these little areas of water is 
near the northern extremity. Bold cliffs, from one hundred to 



LOCAL TOPOGRAPHY. FIRST IMPRESSIONS. 15 

two hundred feet high, overlook much of the coast — the high- 
est being on the eastern side of the upper part of the island, 
at the place called Clay Head, and about the south-western, 
southern, and south-eastern shores. There are, also, quite 
prominent cliffs just to the south of the government breakwater. 
The harbor is on the eastern side, on the southern skirt of a 
deep concavity of the coast line; and in this immediate vicini- 
ty are gathered most of the hotels, small country stores and 
residences, the post-office, and huts in which the fish are cured — 
all too few and too scattered to constitute a village, yet the 
nearest semblance of one on the island. About a mile and-a- 
half in the interior are one of the churches, the town house, and a 
half-a-dozen other stores and residences. The homes of the 
farmers and fishermen are thinly scattered over the rest of the 
surface. 

Of the map prefaced to these pages it may be observed, by 
the way, that it makes no pretensions to scientific accuracy, but 
is simply a sketch. The hills are not indicated, nor the loca- 
tion of all the houses. It will be found, however, to answer all 
the practical purposes of a guide to summer visitors. 



FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE ISLAND UNFAVORABLE. 

In this connection, a word of warning may not be out of 
place. The landing is not an attractive looking neighborhood ; 
and what with its appearance, the odor emanating from the 
fish curing houses, the warmth and the dusty roads, one's first im- 



i6 BLOCK island: a hand-book. 

pression of the place, especially if he have only come over for 
the two or three hours that the steamer stops, is often unfavor- 
able to the island, and he goes away with a deep-seated, but 
unjust prejudice. Indeed, the visitor who has come for a fort- 
night's stay, is sometimes disappointed for a few hours. But 
Block Island, like some of our best friends, shows its worst side 
to us first, and a little charitable patience and familiarity soon 
reveal to an appreciative person, its many modest but truly win- 
some and poetic charms. 

THE HOTELS. 

Of the hotels it is necessary to say but little here. As we have 
remarked in the introductory pages of this work, one can find 
anything in the range from a summer hotel with modern ap- 
pointments and prices to little establishments that differ from 
neat old farm houses more in name than in fare or service. In 
the appendix to this volume, which should be carefully perused, 
can be found the names of most of these caravanseries ; and 
their several locations are indicated on the map. As one ap- 
proaches the island; he always sees the national flag floating 
from the tops of the hotels, and on landing finds their vans 
and carriages awaiting him at the wharf. Most of them have 
been greatly enlarged and improved since last season. 

BATHING. 

One of the first privileges of his life on Block Island to 
which the visitor's thoughts will turn, will be the bathing. 



BATHING. 17 

Unless he be remarkably robust, however, he will be unwise to 
indulge himself for two or three days. Although one scarcely 
realizes it, there is such a decided change in the character of 
the atmosphere that at first this alone will afford as much of a 
tonic as is wholesome for most people. Moreover, it is unwise 
to bathe more frequently than every other day to begin with, 
nor to stay in more than five or ten minutes at a time. It is 
no uncommon thing for people in their eagerness and enthusi- 
asm to overdo in this respect, and to suffer in consequence. 
Riding or walking to the beach, sitting upon an outspread 
blanket shawl or the camp-stool one has been prudent enough 
to bring, watching the youngsters at their sports on the wet 
sand, and studying the now sportive, now awkward bathers, 
and their ludicrous appearance on emerging from the surf, are 
usually enough to satisfy most people for a few days. 

Nearly all of the shores of the island are stony or gravelly. 
Almost the only good stretch of clean sand is to be found 
along the bay to the north of the harbor, half-a-mile or more 
from the landing. Here is to be found a nice shelving beach 
and an ocean bottom free from pit-holes, stones or weeds ; 
and here are arrayed the rude huts in which the bathers robe 
and disrobe. These houses, owned by the respective proprie- 
tors of the hotels, are, in the winter time, hauled up on the 
high bank back of the beach to keep them out of reach of the 
heavy seas of winter — being restored to their proper places as 
soon as required by summer visitors. Thus far they have been 
only too few, and an agitation for an increased number will 



i8 BLOCK island: a hand-book. 

probably be necessary this season. Conveyance to the beach 
is furnished, to those who do not like the rather toilsome walk 
over a soft sandy road, by the hotel proprietors, who run 
teams, for the convenience of the bathers. The use of the bath- 
ing houses is given gratuitously by the proprietors to their own 
guests ; but special rates for conveyance have to be agreed up- 
on at the opening of the season. They differ somewhat at 
the various houses. Most people prefer to bring their own 
bathing suits with them, including oil skin caps and sandals ; 
but suits, of the only two simple garments really requisite, are 
procurable on the island. 

The best time for bathing is when the tide is out, or has just 
turned to come in, for two reasons : first, when the tide is full, 
or running out, there is a slight undertow never felt at any 
other time; and second, the slope of the bottom, just within 
the water's edge, is more gradual at low than high tide, one 
being able to go out seventy-five or one hundred feet from the 
shore at the former. For the benefit of those who take this 
into consideration, a tide table is given in the back part of this 
work. 

A rather more important consideration to the visitor is the 
relation of his bathing hour to meal time. It is better to bathe 
on an empty stomach than a full one; hence it is customary to 
go to the beach about ten or eleven a. m., irrespective of tide, 
getting back in time to improve on the bath-house toilet, and 
get a half hour's doze before dinner. When there is a high 
tide in the morning, some prefer to take their baths at four or 



BOATING. 19 

five o'clock in the afternoon. If there be ample conveyance 
and bath-house accommodations, however, it is much pleasant- 
er for all to go in about the same time, because it gives more 
confidence to the timid, more company to the courageous, and 
more fun to those who go merely as spectators. 



BOATING. 

One of the pleasantest episodes of Block Island life is the 
occasional sail. Everyone, ladies included, will want to in- 
dulge in at least one, and many in more. One of the most 
common trips is around the island, on a fair day ; or one may 
go a fishing, of which more anon; or one may take a short 
moon-light sail ; or again on a moonless night, go out to wit- 
ness that strange and beautiful phenomenon, the marine phos- 
phorescence. One may, perhaps, catch a little rougher sea on 
these occasions than he anticipated, and suffer a bit from sea- 
sickness; or may reach the same end by the different agency of 
the lazy, deceitful swell of a calm. A lady may, from a failure 
to heed the skipper's warning, lose a hat or a veil ; or a coat or 
a dress may be sprinkled or soiled; a mist may thicken into 
fog; or some other trifling contretemps may be experienced; 
but one can rely implicitly on being safe, and all these inci- 
dents have their amusing phases. Even were they not enjoyable 
in themselves, they would be vastly more than compensated for 
by the novelty or excitement of the adventure. Then there 
are new glimpses to be had of the island, the sight of Mother 



20 BLOCK ISLAND : A HAND-BOOK. 

Carey's chickens toward which the true sailor manifests such a 
pecuhar tenderness, the sportive porpoise and the occasionally 
visible whale ; the skipper's quaint expressions and good-natured 
chat, his slight peculiarities of pronunciation, his nautical tech- 
nicalities, his quiet humor and cleverness, and his simple anec- 
dotes and old-fashioned traditions, particularly if one can get 
him telling some story of a wreck : all of which combine with 
the dextrous handling of helm and sail, the dash and sparkle of 
the foaming, lapping waves, the fresh breeze, and the possi- 
ble competition with another craft making the same trip, to take 
one completely outside of his wonted sphere of thought, and 
entertain him immensely. Such chances for seeing new phases 
of human character and nature's wondrous works are too few, 
even in a lifetime. 

One has little difficulty in finding boats for these excursions. 
Both the old sailors who have cleaned up or made over their 
working boats for the use of pleasure parties, and their younger, 
more enterprising sons who have ventured their hard won gains 
in more pretentious and elegant craft, are so eager for custom 
that they are ever cruising about in search of the eager lands- 
man, waylaying him — though not too intrusively — upon the 
the road, or addressing him upon the veranda of his hotel. 
Their terms are generally very moderate, though they know how 
to drive a good bargain ; and their boats, though quite different, 
in model and size, are seaworthy and safe ; so that one needs-j 
bother about little beyond the condition of his purse, the size, 



FISHING. 21 



and tastes of his party, and the quality of his lunch, if such 
concomitant to the expedition be deemed desirable. 



FISHING. 

Scarcely a summer visitor comes to the island who does not 
want to know something about the fishing; and certainly after, 
if not before, his first sail with the native navigators, his eager- 
ness for this variety of sport will have reached a high pitch. 
The diversion is one in which only the sterner sex will care to 
indulge ; and, after the first experience, only the sterner of the 
stern, unless, perhaps, they have the patience to angle for 
flounders or cunners off the end of the breakwater, or are con- 
tent with the mild excitement of catching perch or black bass 
in one of the inland ponds. Yet there is rare sport to be had, 
in ordinary seasons, out upon the briny deep ; and the man who 
has visited Block Island, and caught neither a cod nor a blue- 
fish, has missed one of the most glorious opportunities which 
the place affords for recreation. I mention cod and blue-fish 
particularly, because one is more likely to find these ; but the 
mackerel, which run in such shoals that when they are to be 
had at all, they can be seined; the rarer and choicer bonita, the 
aldermanic swordfish, the sea bass, and other denizens of the 
deep, are also to be caught on occasions, and afford equally ex- 
hilarating sport. 

The principal catch of codfish by those to whom its capture 
is a means of livelihood is made in the spring and fall. But 



22 BLOCK ISLAND A HAND-BOOK. 

during the summer, on a decent day, one can almost always 
find them on a bank some six miles to the south-eastward of the 
harbor, at a depth of from a hundred to a hundred and fifty 
feet. Ten and twelve pounders are the average, with now and 
then an approach to twenty or thirty; while the man who takes 
a forty pound cod, in the summer time, is a hero for a month. 
Cod fishing is nominally still fishing, the boats heaving to on 
the bank, and every half hour or so, beating up against the wind 
to offset the drifting. The bait is a bit of some worthless vari- 
ety of fish, which, with the tackle, are provided by the boatman. 
The precautions which the amateur needs to take are to insist 
on having the hooks sharpened, the bait fresh, ice in the hold 
to preserve the catch, and fresh water in the boat's earthenware 
jug. But more than these, it is important that one is sure his 
skipper knows just exactly where to find the fish, especially if 
there happen to be a fog and he has to sail by the compass and 
guess, instead of by his bearings from landmarks. 

The blue-fish is much smaller than the cod, but is far more 
gamey. The cod resists but languidly ; the blue-fish is as 
demonstrative as the pickerel. Blue-fish are taken with almost 
any kind of bait, a bit of rag being the veteran fisherman's, 
chief reliance, and trolling a few hundred rods off shore. J 
Their pursuit is more of a lottery than that of the cod; but 
the excitement when one wins the prize of a successful day, 
amply repays the risk. 

Indeed, even though one has poor luck as regards the gross 
aggregate of captures, the novelty of the experience, the ludi- 



APPROPRIATE READING. 23 

crous appearance of one's sea-sick companions, the reaction of 
magnificent appetite and tingling vigor one enjoys next day if 
he has been thoroughly sea-sick himself, the consciousness 
of dining off your own fish chowder, the skipper's philosophy and 
humor, the sunburn, the skin sawn fingers, the rivalry with 
other parties out the same day, the half-concealed curiosity of 
the sailor on the dock who wanders up to inventory your 
spoils as you come in, and the indescribable but inspiriting 
romance of the adventure make the day a pleasant one for the 
time being, and still pleasanter to look back upon. 

Usually the amateur carries off his biggest fish to his hotel 
or boarding-house for his next day's dinner and as a trophy ; 
the remainder, by the unwritten, but generally recognized law 
of custom, are the skipper's perquisites, as are also any half- 
consumed papers of tobacco, or modicum of spirits, one may 
thoughtlessly leave in some odd corner of the old craft. 



APPROPRIATE READING. 

It is the experience of many that one never has so little 
leisure as when he has nothing to do. It is astonishing how 
little reading or v/riting or fancy work one can accomplish 
during a summer's idling. At Block Island, people spend so 
much time in preparing for or dressing after the bath, on trips 
hither and thither on the water or ashore, in visiting with fellow 
idlers upon the broad veranda, in twilight reveries, in music 
or dancing, or in the more intellectual yet social whist, with 



24 BLOCK ISLAND : A HAND-BOOK. 

possible liquid accompaniments, that they -have little time for 
reading ; and often carry their books home almost unopened. 
Yet I would advise everyone, who comes for more than a 
week's stay, to bring a book or two, but to be particular what 
he brings. Leave novels behind, unless you have one you es- 
pecially want to read. Leave philosophy and every thing in the 
way of study. Take nothing but poetry, and that choose with 
care. The freedom from absorbing physical and mental occu- 
pation which one enjoys here is especially favorable to the ex- 
pansion of the esthetic instincts ; and one soon finds his poetic 
nature quickened to a susceptibility almost unknown amid the 
pressing cares and occupations of ordinary life. I don't mean 
that he feels like writing verses. He is too languid for that. 
He is in the passive, not the active mood. But he is peculiarly 
alive to beautiful, grand and inspiring ideas ; and so, if provided 
with just the right means, he finds himself at a happy stage of 
soul culture. • Such means are to be found in the glorious sun- 
sets, ever varying cloud forms, the soft air and hues of twilight, 
the calm moonlit nights, the reverie on the beach, the solitary 
ramble, the innumerable and almost monotonous undulations of 
the wide fields, the bold, lonely cliffs, in the vast infinity 
of the ocean, the immensity of the heavenly vault, and the for- 
tissimo and pianissimo of the waves' symphony ; and the sensi- 
bility thereto and to moral beauty and grandeur is excited not 
a little by an occasional bit of sentiment from the great word- 
artists. 

Jean Ingelow's poetry is, perhaps, in feeling and description, 



THE DRIVES. 2$ 

most in harmony with the spirit of the island, its waves and sea- 
weed, its wastes of sand, and scanty growth of bent. But 
Wordsworth and Tennyson will also be read here with a deeper 
tenderness and meaning, and Whittier's " Tent on the Beach," 
and the "Wreck of the Palatine." So, too, with Byron's 
" Childe Harold," and indeed with all poetry which deals with 
nature rather than character and story. This, of course, in- 
cludes " The Beauties of Ruskin," which contain suggestions 
regarding nature which one will find especially acceptable here, 
and can apply and assimilate more readily than under any oth- 
er circumstances. By all means, then, take a little — and only a 
little — poetry with you to Block Island. 



THE DRIVES. 

Driving will, for some time to come, be indulged in on Block 
Island as a means, rather than an end. Nothing luxurious in 
the way of a vehicle is to be had, the best being an old fash- 
ioned buggy, or a weak springed democrat wagon, unless per- 
chance, one has been able to bring over her own little phaeton 
from the main land. Moreover, the roads are either hilly and 
rather stony, (although the town authorities have vastly im- 
proved them of late years) or else over soft sand, which if any- 
thing is more wearisome than the stones. Then, too, a horse 
there which can go faster than a four-mile-an-hour walk is 
phenomenal. Yet there are several points of interest well 
worth visiting, of which detailed mention is made elsewhere ; 



26 BLOCK ISLAND : A HAND-BOOK. 

and with such objects in view, the little drawbacks here 
suggested sink into a nameless insignificance. Besides, if one 
sets out expecting absolutely nothing in the way of roadside 
charms, but keeps alert to what little beauty there may happen 
to lie about his path, he will be pleasantly rather than other- 
wise disappointed. 

The waysides yield a rather scanty turf, and the grass is al- 
lowed to grow tall and gather-dust; but the dew and occasional 
showers keep it tolerably fresh. The daisy, though somewhat 
stunted, and the thistle are quite abundant, and also white clo- 
ver and the blackberry sprays, the last named penetrating or 
clambering over the homely, yet picturesque, grey and lichen 
covered stone walls which every where take the place of fences. 
The wild brier rose, the humble sorrel with its occasional crim- 
son leaf, the wild jessamine and strumonium also enliven the 
way. 

Another flower which grows in great abundance on the 
island is the water lily, to be found in several of the many 
little pools nestling among the innumerable hillocks. The 
rambler, however, must from the first abandon all thought of 
gathering these lovely and fragrant blossoms himself. They 
are as tempting and near yet as inaccessible as the food and 
drink of Tantalus. One must, therefore, be content either, to 
enjoy the sight .of them from afar, or gain possession only 
through the barefooted urchins who carry bunches of them 
around in their hands for sale. 

To those who drive on the island, one practical suggestion is 



RAMBLES ON THE BEACH. 27 

necessary. Many of the roads are private ways, and are cross- 
ed by gates. The islanders are exceedingly obliging in grant- 
ing their use to visitors ; but, very naturally, they like these 
gates kept closed. Certainly the trouble of shutting them after 
going through is a very trifling condition to the privilege. In 
one or two instances, juvenile porters volunteer their services, 
and feel amply compensated by the toss of a nickle. 



RAMBLES ON THE BEACH. 

Some of the disadvantages attendant upon driving here 
equally beset the pedestrian's rambles. The roads are sandy, 
dusty or rugged, and there is scarcely enough in the wayside 
attractions to make a stroll desirable for itself alone. Good 
vigorous walkers, however, often prefer to visit some of the 
points of interest afoot rather than ride, taking tramps of six 
and eight and even ten miles at a time. Yet very few, especially 
among the ladies, care to undertake any thing of this sort. 

However, to those who love solitude and reverie, and have a 
taste for the curious, there are many charms about a clamber 
down the cliffs near the Ocean View hotel, and a stroll thence, 
or up near the bathing beach, along the water's edge. In either 
case one certainly ought to carry an old woolen shawl over his 
arm, and, if so disposed, may take a book of poems along too. 
Such rambles are enjoyable, both when there is a heavy surf tumb- 
ling in, thundering and breaking into spray over the great wet 
boulders, and when the beach is only lapped with playful rip- 



26 BLOCK ISLAND : A HAND-BOOK. 

pies and the tide is out. At the latter time one finds dainty bits 
of sea-weed, pretty little pebbles and shells, jelly-fish and star- 
fish, and queer looking crabs; none of them especially won- 
drous or beautiful, and yet quite attractive ; and one's hands are 
soon so full that, child-like, he has to throw away half his treas- 
ures in order to hold the rest. By and by one gets a little 
weary, and then spreads his shawl upon the sand, sits him 
down, and communes either with the poet or with the waves, 
their majesty or music soothing the spirit into reverence and 
reverie, and stirring sweet thoughts in the soul. 

THE SPRINGS. 

A less sentimental, but possibly more popular stroll is at eve- 
ning, down to the springs which give the Spring house its 
name, and whose location is indicated on the map. They are 
two in number ; one a clear, sweet water, and the other strong- 
ly tinctured with iron. Both are curbed and provided with 
cups; and a convenient platform, with seats, is at hand, where- 
on one may rest, flirt with his companion, and study the cloud 
forms or dying twilight tints, while recovering breath for his 
return. 

BEACON HILL. 

One of the first places to which one should go is Beacon 
Hill, near the centre of the island and at its highest elevation. 
It is situated about half-a-mile west of the church, on the right 



BEACON HILL. 29 

hand side of the only road running clear across the island, and is 
easily found without more specific direction than to look at 
your map, and be sure to take the right road past the church. 
We believe there is a carriage road leading to its top; but most 
persons, having ridden out thus far from the landing, will pre- 
fer hitching their team to a fence post, and clambering up the turf- 
covered slope afoot The best time to go is immediately after 
supper, in order to see the sunset ; or a party may find it 
pleasant to start earlier, and bring their suppers in a basket. 

The great attraction of Beacon Hill is the magnificent view it 
affords on a clear day. 

Without actually being very high up, one here looks down, 
almost as a bird in air, upon the undulating surface of the 
island, the languid but constant heaving of whose broad bosom 
is suggestive of a usually calm soul, mildly agitated with pleasure. 
The winding roads, the network of stone fences, the brown and 
treeless meadows with here and there a dark green field of 
waving corn, a haystack or a picturesque windmill, the various 
sized ponds, the almost solitary farm-house, the church and the 
clump of hotels and dwellings over near the harbor, alone con- 
stitute a landscape restful and charming to the eye. And then 
all around this picture, except where the bluff at the southeast 
corner of the island breaks the circle, the ocean stretches, the 
infinity of its expanse forming a soothing yet inspiring contrast 
to the narrow and tortuous streets of cities, and the hampering 
limitations of circumstance and toil. Then, too, its never 
quiet waters, like the infinite intellect cresting into countless even 



30 BLOCK ISLAND : A HAND-BOOK. 

though transitory thoughts, richly reward a lingering contem- 
plation. One looks to the south and east and tries to estimate 
the thousands of miles that intervene between this and other 
shores; and then turns with a mild curiosity to identify Point 
Judith and Watch Hill, the extremity of Montauk, the low- 
lying Gardiner's Island, and the faint line of the Connecticut 
coast beyond which one discerns the setting sun, which, unless 
one revives a few principles of his spherical trigonometry will 
seem a great deal farther north than it ought to be. At last 
one's gaze is lifted to the clouds, which he is almost sure to 
find away to the north and west, hovering over the main land, 
if nowhere else. Even though he may not have looked at his 
Ruskin recently, and been helped thereby to a keener appreci- 
ation of hue and form, he will here find a variety and richness 
of color and majesty of sculpture that seem too limitless to be 
wholly grasped, and will feel again the enlargement of spirit 
which becomes so frequent and profitable an experience amid 
this island scenery. 



THE SOUTH CLIFFS AND LIGHT-HOUSE. 

A better known and to some a more attractive quarter of the 
island is the neighborhood of the cliffs at the south-eastern cor- 
ner, where stands the new light-house. If one has heard them 
previously described, and then makes a circuit of the island in 
a sailboat, he is disappointed in their appearance, regards them 
as uninteresting, and even doubts the statement that they are 



THE SOUTH CLIFFS AND LIGHT-HOUSE. 3I 

nearly two hundred feet above the water's edge. As pleasure 
or pain is the greater for coming contrary to anticipation, it 
may be well for the visitor to postpone his trip to these cliffs 
by land until after he has circumvented the island by water. He 
will find the main route, when he does undertake it, sufficiently 
indicated on the map ; only that he must expect to pass 
through three or four gates on the private road which forms 
the continuation of the highway, and follow an unfenced but 
clearly defined path the last half of the journey; or the strong 
and adventurous pedestrian may, at low tide, follow the coast 
line down from the breakwater, occasionally clambering over a 
boulder, or scrambling up on the bluff to escape some particu- 
larly large wave. The distance, in a bee line, from the harbor 
is not over two miles and-a-half, but is a walk or drive of four. 
To a great many persons the light-house will be an object of 
much interest. It belongs to the highest of the several classes 
into which the human sign-posts along the highway of na- 
tions are divided ; the structure costing no less than ^75,000, 
and its blaze being visible nearly thirty miles at sea. The 
keeper, who, with his assistant, lives on the premises, is a 
courteous and obliging official, and is equally attentive wheth- 
er his kindness be acknowledged with verbal or more sub- 
stantial gratuities. The ascent of the long spiral iron stair- 
case, even by ladies and invalids, is amply repaid by a sight of 
the immense and singularly arranged apparatus, and by the in- 
teresting information to be elicited concerning it. And then, 
when one has satisfied his curiosity regarding the light, he 



32 BLOCK island: a hand-book. 

should ask to see the steam fog-horn in the low wooden building 
adjacent, even though he may not hear its powerful melancholy 
intermittent blast until some other day, from his hotel up near the 
harbor. If, however, one is particularly eager to see and hear 
this singular piece of mechanism in operation, he can do so 
any Monday forenoon, at which time, for purposes of test and 
discipline, it is always used for an hour or more. 

The cliffs are worth, at least, two visits. The first should be 
paid on a comparatively calm day, the expedition setting out, 
say, at four or five o'clock, with a good lunch basket in the 
wagon, which might be reinforced with a pail of milk from 
some farm-house along the road. After one has "done" the 
light-house, rambled an hour on the beach at the bottom of 
the cliffs, and clambered up to their crest again, he will be im- 
patient to have the shawls spread and the baskets opened. 
Then, while he discusses the contents, the grandeur of the 
ocean view, and the varying depth and softness of color of water 
and sky, will add to his feast of reason, if not to his flow of soul. 

The descent of the cliffs, at this point, is altogether too 
steep for safety or ease. To get to the beach, therefore, the 
rambler must turn off from the poorly-defined road through a 
deep cut just before reaching the light-house. The beach 
should be visited for the sake of its pebbles, which are the 
best shaped for paper weights to be found on the island, for 
the most impressive view he can find of the bold, rugged 
heights that there confront him, to best hear the grating of 



THE NORTH LIGHT-HOUSE, CLAY HEAD, AND SALT POND. 33 

each receding surge, and to fe'el the majesty of the in-rolling 
billows- 

If the evening be not too chilly, one should linger near the 
light-house until the sunset is over and the beacon in the 
picturesque tower is lit for the night. 

The second visit to this point should be paid just after a 
southerly gale, and should be brief if there is still any wind, as 
it will be difficult getting about, and uncomfortable keeping 
still. But the magnificent massiveness and power of the waves, 
the exquisite beauty of their color and outlines, the passion of 
their white tossing crests, and the awful violence with which 
they break on the "cold grey stones," especially if beheld in a 
somewhat King-Canute-like proximity, and the wild aspect of 
a raging sea from the summit of the cliffs, are too rich a treat 
to be missed by any one possessing the least susceptibility to 
nature's grandeur. 



THE NORTH LIGHT-HOUSE, CLAY HEAD, AND SALT POND. 

There is little that is inspiring in the trip to the northern ex- 
tremity of Block Island ; but whoever gets imbued with the gen- 
erally languid and pensive spirit of this resort will find pleasure 
in the enterprise, aside from the satisfaction of having com- 
pletely traversed the little ocean-girt domain which is his 
temporary home. The drive is somewhat longer than to the 
south cliffs — a mile further, perhaps ; the roads are so sandy 
most of the way as to make the ride more tedious, the shore 
3 



34 



BLOCK ISLAND : A HAND-BOOK. 



is low and desolate, and the light-house, a low, turreted frame 
building which has been moved shoreward from its old posi- 
tion out on the long reef, is almost as devoid of attractions as 
a weather beaten barn. Yet the ideal forlornness of the region 
will, for many, nevertheless have a charm. 

Clay Head, the high bluff that bounds the wide eastern bay 
on the north, possesses some little attractions for the pedestri- 
an, one of them being the glimpse of the distant castle-like 
light-house against the southern sky ; and those who are equal 
to it will enjoy the stroll up the bathing beach, around the base 
of the prominence, and so on toward Sachem's pond, where 
he will meet those of his party who have driven. As there is 
but one wagon road going up from the harbor, one cannot lose 
his way driving ; but in coming back he needs to be on his 
guard against the westward turn at the fork which is laid down 
on the map. 

One cannot but be impressed with the loneliness of the sand 
hills along his route on this expedition, with the power of the 
wind which shapes them, and of the waves which in winter 
dash over them to rejoin the waters of the Great Salt pond ; 
and he cannot but wonder, too, at the thriftiness of the tall 
bent on these grotesque and arid hummocks : a sort of vege- 
tation, which, like the long, sprangly sea-weed rooted to the 
pebbles in the water's edge, forms a contrast with the luxuriant 
lawns and sensuous hot-house growths one elsewhere sees, forci- 
bly illustrating the strange vitality of nature, and strongly sug- 
gestive of a sort of moral heroism. 



thp: north light-house, clay head, and salt pond. 35 

The almost complete absence of trees, I think, is more keen- 
ly realized on this than on any other excursion about the 
island, the few stunted or twisted exceptions grouped about a 
private place of burial, here and there, only serving to more 
effectually prove the rule. 

Off to the westward is the huge inland lake, which once 
connected with the ocean on both sides, and made two islands 
of what is now but one. It has an area of about a thousand 
acres, and its waters are still salt — a flume over on the western 
shore communicating with the sound. Numerous attempts 
have been made to raise oysters in its bed, but with compara- 
tively poor success ; but there are some good perch to be 
caught there, and the pond has, within a year or two, been 
stocked with black bass. One of the original plans for making 
Block Island a harbor of refuge for the large coasting traffic 
was to cut a channel through from this vast reservoir ; and a 
great quantity of soundings and calculations were made by an 
officer of the United States coast survey, to ascertain the prac- 
ticability of the scheme, which was finally abandoned. 
. Sachem's pond next to the largest body of water on the 
island, is about as prosaic as such a bit of scenery could be. 
And the beach of Cow Bay, as the indentation between Clay 
Head and the light-house is called, is interesting only to the 
coasters, who resort thither for loads of cobble stones to pave 
some distant city. 

It was on the narrow strip of land, between the inland and 
outer seas, which one sees off towards the setting sun as he 



36 BLOCK ISLAND : A HAND-BOOK. 

turns homeward, that the debris of the Palatine came ashore. 
Now and then an islander can be found who owns a trinket 
which once belonged to a passenger on that historic vessel. 
And it is still possible, though with great difficulty, to procure 
from some native a cup and saucer that were among the spoils 
of the wreck. Equally rare is the sailor who will admit that he 
ever saw the fiery phantom ship; though when his natural re- 
serve is once thawed out, the Block Islander will tell you many 
an incident of the story which Whittier has so beautifully em- 
bodied in verse, and of the wrecks of the Warrior, and Metis, 
and others of those awful disasters once common on this 
coast, but now, thanks to the provision of a paternal gov- 
ernment, fast becoming rare. 



GOVERNMENT LIFE SAVING STATIONS. 

Not far from the landing, next to a blacksmith's shop at 
a bend in the road, stands a broad-eaved cottage-like little 
edifice that soon attracts one's notice, and which he is told is 
one of the two life saving stations on the island, the other bein^ 
over on the western shore. The building, with its furniture 
and management, is substantially the same as hundreds of 
others along the coast of the United States. The structure is 
18 by 48 feet, and a story and-a-half high. The apartments 
within are provided with boats and apparatus, and fitted up for 
the occupation of the keeper and his crew, and the temporary 
shelter of as many as a hundred possible castaways. There 



THE BREAKWATER. 37 

are stores, household furniture and provisions on the lower 
floor, with cots and bedding aloft. 

During the seven months of the year the establishment is 
closed, except in case of special emergency, although Captain 
Card, the keeper, can sometimes be persuaded to give the curi- 
ous a look within. The regular service at the station is from the 
middle of November to the middle of April, during which time 
a crew of eight men are on duty, and a patrol is kept up along 
the coast in storms and thick weatlier. These men are vigor- 
ous, vigilant, bold and trustworthy, and are held strictly ac- 
countable for whatever property may be committed to their 
keeping in time of disaster. 

Among the apparatus of the station is a life-boat twenty- 
seven feet long, with curved ends, flat bottom, shallow keel, 
air chambers at both extremities and aiong the sides just 
under the gunwales, and so ballasted as to right itself when 
overturned by a heavy sea. It requires a crew of seven to 
man it. There is also a small surf-boat, a mortar capable of 
throwing fifteen hundred feet of line, a mortar carriage, lines, 
hawsers, rockets for signals and the like. 



THE BREAKWATER. 

A long, straight pile of ragged granite, to whose black, wet 
base, at low tide, one sees clinging huge masses of yellow sea- 
weed that sway with every ripple, is one of the first features of 
the island the visitor notices, protecting, as it does, the harbor 



^S BLOCK ISLAND : A HAND-BOOK. 

which receives him. Its principal advantage, at first, seems to 
be the shelter it affords the pleasure boat of the summer visitor. 
Then it dawns on one that the fishing industry of the island is 
an important one, and is pursued at a time of year when land- 
ing a boat from an ordinary beach, beaten by an eastern sea 
unbroken for thousands of miles, is a dangerous if not impos- 
sible undertaking. He learns, too, that until within a few 
years the fishing boats had no other moorings than a little 
forest of tall stakes, worked into the sandy bottom of the har- 
bor, and looking like a magnificent growth of sedge; and that 
passengers coming hither were brought ashore from large sail- 
ing craft in row boats. Finally, he remembers the immense 
number of vessels engaged in the coasting trade, and which 
always run for shelter in stress of weather; realizes how far 
out of the way New London and Newport are, in such emergen- 
cies, for vessels passing to the southward of the island, as most 
of the coasters do ; and so sees the propriety of the federal gov- 
ernment stepping in, with its treasure, to make more safe the 
life and property of a large class of its citizens. 

The breakwater, at this writing, (April, 1877) is, as yet, in- 
complete. Its first stone was laid in the summer of 1870 ; it is 
now twelve hundred feet long, having cost $205,000 thus far; 
and its direction is north of north-easterly. Appropriations to 
the amount of $60,000 are still unexpended, and contracts for 
the continuation of the work have lately been let. It is pro- 
posed to put in a bulkhead at the extremity of the already 
constructed pier, to preserve a channel three hundred feet in 



THE CHURCHES. 39 

width, and then build an extension running due north. A 
range light, consisting of two beacons at the seaward and shore 
ends of the portions already finished, will ultimately be added. 

THE CHURCHES. 

The sectarian character of the old Rhode Islanders who col- 
onized here was very naturally Baptist, and the two religious 
societies on the island are of that denomination. One, whose 
edifice is off toward the south-western part of the island, and 
whose pastor in 1876 was Elder George Wheeler, is too far away 
to possess much interest for the summer visitor. That located 
on the map is of close communion proclivities, and presided 
over by the Rev. S. T. Livermore, a gentleman of such origi- 
nality, piety and force as to interest even the irreligious. It is 
well worth attending for the sake of hearing him. More than 
two centuries ago the original settlers of Block Island desig- 
nated a certain plot of ground whose revenue should be de- 
voted to the maintenance of religious worship, and the amount 
thus accruing, a trifle over a thousand dollars annually, is now 
divided between the two churches. -To this is added the vol- 
untary contributions of the members, and the donations of tem- 
porary residents : amateur concerts, dramatic readings, and 
other similar entertainments being given by summer boarders 
every year in their behalf. Services are also sometimes held 
in the parlors of one of the hotels, or at the restaurant down 
near the breakwater, Sundays, by either local or visiting cler- 
gymen. 



40 , BLOCK ISLAND : A HAND-BOOK. 

LOCAL ANTIQUITIES. 

Ancient as is this settlement, the place has few antiquities of 
interest to the visitor beyond the old cemetery, of which more 
anon. There are few traces of the Indians, except the names 
" Indian Head Neck," and " Sachem's Pond," and the old stone 
down near the south-west corner of the island on which the 
Indians are said to have lit their council fires. No pottery or 
implements of aborigines, unless it be now and then an arrow 
head, I believe are ever plowed up : indicating that the red 
men only made the island a transitory home. The relics of 
former wrecks I have already alluded to. No existing houses 
here that I know of possess any historic interest, the old fash- 
ioned church with high pulpit and box pews having not long 
since been demolished. Mr. Simon Ray Sands, an elderly and 
good natured islander, who can tell rather more of the history 
and topography of the place than any one else who has not 
made it a special study, has in his possession the original draft 
of the island, showing the'apportionment of land to the first set- 
tlers, from two of whom he is himself descended. Mr. Sands' 
map and homely courtesy,- are well worth seeking by the visitor. 

AUNT BETSEY DODGE. 

Another resident who is full of reminiscences, and who is 
more of a celebrity than Mr. Sands, is "Aunt Betsey" Dodge, 
whose humble dwelling, an old yellow house half way between 
the drug store and the Beach house, is sought by scores of visi- 



AUNT BETSEY DODGE. 4I 

tors every year, and who seems to be regarded as one of the 
prominent institutions of the island. Few people come to the 
island without seeing, and none without hearing of this indus- 
trious old lady, who aside from " bringing up " a family of six 
sons and a daughter, and like all the other native women doing 
her own household work, has for forty years devoted herself to 
the old fashioned hand loom. 

In her seventy-sixth year, stimulated by accounts of " smart" 
old ladies, she determined to show that Block Island could pro- 
duce the equal of any of them ; and her efforts that year re- 
sulted in one thousand yards of carpeting, and four hundred of 
flannel : an achievement of which she is justly proud, of which 
she likes to tell, and which is enhanced by the fact that she did 
her own housework meantime, and was absent from the island 
on a three weeks' visit, the latter being an unusual circumstance 
in the life of the Block Islander of her age and sex. 

Through the persuasion of her sons, who are well-to-do fish- 
ermen or farmers and want to see her pass the remainder of 
her life in ease and quiet enjoyment, she has finally abandoned 
her labors at the loom. Like Othello, her "occupation's gone" 
and she misses the cumbrous old machine as one might a dear 
lost friend. Not satisfied to be idle, she now amuses herself by 
knitting mittens and stockings, which are purchased season 
after season by the callers who throng to see her. 

She is a bright, wide-awake old lady and very original in 
conversation; and as she thoroughly enjoys company, and al- 
ways has a pleasant welcome for those who go to see her, she 



42 BLOCK ISLAND : A HAND-BOOK. 

is rarely alone. One kind friend last summer presented her 
with a gold finger ring, which, being the first she ever pos- 
sessed, she prizes highly, and declares it shall be buried with 
her. 

She has attained her eighty-first year, and in spite of her 
laborious life is still vigorous and has every prospect of a 
much greater age. Having a sister who has reached her nine- 
ty-seventh year, it is not improbable that "Aunt Betsey" may 
yet complete a century. 

THE OLD CEMETERY. 

So mildly interesting an enterprise as a visit to the old cem- 
etery, whose whereabouts one can easily learn from the map, is 
not altogether wanting in pleasure to most visitors on the 
island. This graveyard is the principal one here, having been 
in use from the first settlement in 1661. There are perhaps a 
dozen family burying grounds, parceled off from corners of 
farms, here and there, but they are modern and without at- 
tractions. There are also a new cemetery, not yet used, and a 
burying ground for negroes, devoid of head stones and likewise 
of interest. During the Revolution, small pox raged here to 
such an extent that a hospital was erected near the south-west 
corner of the island, and the mounds which mark the last rest- 
ing place of the victims are said to be still discernible. They 
are not worth seeing, however, nor are the graves of the Pal- 
atine's and other ships' dead, which have been buried over on 
the west shore, but without tombstones bearing inscriptions. 



THE OLD CEMETERY. 43 

Even though one has but little antiquarian instinct, however, 
he can hardly fail to get some little gratification from a ramble 
in the old central cemetery, especially if he can prevail on his 
companion to search out the more interesting headstones, lie 
down on the grass to pull away the earth or scrape off the lich- 
ens, and read off the dim and imperfect but often curious epi- 
taphs. 

Unlike most graveyards, this is lacking in shrubbery, trees 
and lot boundaries ; the grass grows long and tangled ; the 
crumbling head stones are heaved out of place by the frost ; 
and altogether the place has a most antiquated and lonely air. 
The symbolic ornamentation, the antique orthography, and the 
form of the lettering, are in many cases exceedingly rude and 
peculiar; and even more quaint are the sentiments sometimes 
to be found. 

Few of the epitaphs are in verse ; and yet these few are in- 
teresting for the beauty or odd mixture of the sentiment, the 
rudeness of the rhetoric, or the peculiar force of some word. 
Here is one, for instance, that for deep piety and ancient sim- 
plicity is fairly typical of the primitive New Englander : 

" I have a God who changest not, 

Why should' I be perplexed ? 
My God who owns me in this world 

Will own me in the next. 

My dearest friends who dwell above 

I soon must go to see ; 
And all my friends in Christ below 

Will soon come after me." • 



44 BLOCK island: a hand-book. 

Nor can one fail to see the tenderness of true affection and 
the grace of Christian resignation in the following, incomplete 
as is the embodiment, and abrupt the change from the one to 
the other : 

" How fondly we loved her 

No language can tell ; 
Grim death liath deprived us 
And yet all is well." 

A third runs thus, the glass referred to doubtless being that 
in which run the sands of life : 

" Stop, reader, spend a mournful tear 
Upon the dust that slumbers here ; 
And while you read the state of me, 
Think on the glass which runs for thee." 

It is impossible to determine the age of the oldest grave in 
this cemetery, as some of the inscriptions are obliterated, some 
of the stones broken, and some gone altogether. The one last 
quoted bears date of 1765. Another quaint one is "In memo- 
ry of Ackurs Tofh, who died June y* 2jst, J739, in y" 54th 
year of his age." One finds plenty of dates of eighteen him- 
dred and something. Soon he crosses the century line and 
strikes the seventeen-eighties, and sixties and forties ; and these 
latter soon set him at his mathematics and his English and 
American history. You find, after a while, the huge slab with 
the long tribute engraved thereon to Simon Ray, one of the 
original settlers, who died in 1737, in his io2d year, and you 
say to yourself, " Hundred and two from seventeen-thirty-seven 



TO BLOCK ISLAND AND BACK THE SAME DAY. 45 

leaves sixteen-thirty-five," and find yourself back in Charles the 
First's time, only fifteen years after the Pilgrims landed. I 
found several dates of 1730-odd, and one of 1708. Here's 
one that goes still further back : 

" Here lyes intvrred the body of Mr. lames Sands, Seniovr, 
AoED 73 years. Departed this life March y® 13, 1695." 

This man was an original settler of the island, and was born 
two years after the Mayflower came to Plymouth rock, or 
two hundred and fifty-five years ago. The form of the letters 
in this epitaph is very quaint, and the engraver has gotten his 
" G" in "aged" hindside before. A peculiar shaping and com- 
bination of letters, which modern typographic art cannot easily 
reproduce, is to be found, too, in the following: 

" Heare Lieth the body of Margaret GVTRY, aged 64 years, 
who departed this life April 3, 1687." 

This is the oldest stone I have been able to find in the Block 
Island cemetery, and takes one back within a decade of two 
centuries. I have heard, however, of one bearing date of 
1684, but never saw it. But one will find much to entertain 
him in his researches on this spot, even though he does not see 
all of the stones I have here mentioned. 



TO BLOCK ISLAND AND BACK THE SAME DAY. 

It has been my aim in the preceding pages to point out, to 
those visitors who come to Block Island for several days or 
weeks, the more prominent places of interest, and to offer a few 



46 BLOCK ISLAND : A HAND-BOOK. 

suggestions regarding the best way to reach and enjoy them, 
I can hardly expect that every one else who visits them will see 
them with my eyes : my only hope is to partly assist him in 
becoming familiar with what is at first sight unattractive if not 
forbidding, and to overcome the unpleasant impression he is 
likely to receive from his first glimpses. 

Much less do I expect to have helped the excursionists who 
go over to the island with the intention of returning the same 
day. Yet to them, a single word : So short will be your stay, 
that you cannot see much of the island except right about the 
harbor. You will hardly v/ant to spend your time on a bath ; 
and unless you secure a team immediately on arrival and make 
haste, you cannot reach either Beacon Hill or the south light- 
house, and get back before your boat leaves. 

Nevertheless, a quiet lunch on the crest of the bluffs just 
south of the breakwater, a ramble on the beach below, a 
clamber to the top of the Ocean View hotel observatory, a 
dinner at some of the hotels, a stroll inland to the springs or 
some of the ponds on the way to the Highland house, or a lit- 
tle visit with friends who may be staying on the island, will 
add much to the enjoyment of the visit. Every excursionist 
should go ashore and look about him ; but if he does not, the 
day's sail, the cool, salt air, the exhilaration of the sea, the 
study of one's fellow passengers, the bustle and incidents of 
the several landings, and the complete change of thought, will 
amply repay the trip. The jaunt will afford a vast refreshment 
to cate-worn business men, over-worked artisans, exhausted and 



A FEW PRACTICAL HINTS. 47 

heart-sick mothers, tired housekeepers, listless young folks, and 
eager children. Try it and see. 



A FEW PRACTICAL HINTS. 

For the benefit of those who come to the island for a pro- 
tracted stay, I would offer these few closing hints: 

Bring clothing fit for fall weather. It is quite cool most of 
the time on the island, and sometimes chilly. Block Island is 
a good place to wear out your last year's clothing, and espec- 
ially for the children to knock about in. The best toys you 
can bring for the youngsters are books to press sea-weed in, and 
little wooden pails and iron spoons for digging in the sand. 

Bear in mind that the moist sea air will shrink your woolens 
perceptibly, and calculate accordingly. 

Unless you are too particular, bring a lot of paper collars 
and cuffs; the dampness will take the starch out of your linen. 

Expect your scissors and other steel trinkets to rust some- 
what. 

Take an extra woolen shawl to spread on the beach or grass, 
or for a cushion or wrap when boating. It will prove a great 
convenience. 

A private camp-stool will prove a handy thing at times, and 
unlike chip hats, can not be gotten on the island. 

If you have a good pony and phaeton at home, do not live 
too far off, and can afford it. bring them along, by all means; 
you will hardly regret it. 



48 BLOCK ISLAND : A HAND-BOOK. 

Do not count on getting spirits on the island; bring your 
own brandy flask. 

Arrange with some friend at home, if you can, to send you 
fresh fruit : it is scarce on the island. 

If, in spite of advice elsewhere given, you determine to do 
much reading on the island — and if you are unwell for two or 
three days and are cooped up in doors, maybe you will get a 
chance— a previous understanding with the manager of some 
circulating library in Norwich or Providence will not come 
amiss. For fresh telegraphic news rely on the Norwich Morn- 
ing Bulletin, which can be had at the boat three times a week. 

Have your letters addressed to " New Shoreham, R. I.," in- 
stead of Block Island, the former being the name of the post- 
office ; and have the name of your hotel put in the lower left 
hand corner, or it will mislead some bungling postal official into 
sending it off to some of the cities after which several of the 
houses are named. 

There is no telegraph line from the mainland to the island. 
A message to the Captain of the Block Island boat on Mondays, 
Wednesdays and Fridays, if received at Stonington before 10.30 
A. M., or to the Captain of the Canonicus Tuesdays, Thursdays 
and Saturdays, at Newport by the same hour, would doubtless 
be delivered at any hotel designated. 

As at other places, it is well to exercise caution about drink- 
ing the water of this locality too freely at first. The water at 
the springs, though, is perfectly pure and healthful. 

It will be discreet to arrive at an understanding with your 



A FEW PRACTICAL HINTS. 49 

host immediately upon coming to the island, relative to the cost 
of your daily trips to the beach, and the occasional use of a 
team for excursions hither and thither. Also to insist upon the 
regular attendance of the team for the beach every day, with- 
out specific instructions each time. At one or two of the 
houses this precaution will be necessary ; but if acted upon in 
the right spirit, no difficulty need be anticipated. 

Another desideratum at some of the houses is an understand- 
ing among the guests themselves to secure simultaneity in bath- 
ing, and proper care of the bath-houses which are owned sev- 
erally by the hotel proprietors. 

Lastly, when you come away, don't fail to bring your guide- 
book with you as a pleasant souvenir of your stay upon Block 
Island. 



STEAMER TO BLOCK ISLAND 



— FROM — 



Norwich, New London and Stonington, 

AND RETURN. 

THE NORWICH & NEW LONDON STEAMBOAT CO. 

DURING THE SEASON OF 1877, 

Will run a Steamer from Norwich, New London and vStonington 
to Block Island and back, 

Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 

BEGINNING ABOUT JULY l§t. 

The Boat will leave Osgood's wharf, in Norwich, at 8.30 A. M., New Lon- 
don at 9.30, (or on arrival of train from Hartford, Springfield, Willimantic 
and Norwich), and affording a stay of two or three hours. 

FARES AT POPULAR PRICES. 

Palmer Smith, Manager^ Norwich, Conn, 
(iii.) 



The Favorite Sea-Going Steamer 

CANONICUS 

WILL MAKE THE EXCURSION 

From Providence to Block Island 

—EVERY— 

Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, 

DURING THE SEASON OF 1§77, commencing Thur§clay, 
July 5tli, AS FOLLOWS: 

Leave Fall River Iron Works Company's wharf, Providence, (east side), 
at 9 A. M. 

Returning — Leave Block Island at 2.45 p. m. 

Touching at Newport each way. 

Fare, . - . - 75 Cents. 

Excursion Ticket, to return same day, $1.00. 

(iv.) 



New London Northern Railroad 



Trains on this line connect with the Central Vermont Rail- 
road ; with Boston & Albany road at Palmer; with Hartford, 
Providence & Fishkill road at Willimantic, (to and from 
Hartford without change of cars) ; and with Norwich & Wor- 
cester road at Norwich ; connections are also made at con- 
venient hours, at New London with trains for New Haven, New 
York, Providence, Westerly, Stonington, Szc. ; and with Steam- 
ers for NEW YORK, 

BLOCK ISLAND, WATCH HILL, 

GREENPORT AND SAG HARBOR. 



kil for Mets via New LonftOD Nortlierii Railroad ! 

(v.) 



New York & New England R. R. 

Norwich & Worcester Division. 

(From Norwich, Conn., to Worcester, Mass). 



Connects at New London with Steamboats of the Norwich 
and New York Transportation Company for New York ; and with Express 
Trains for Boston, Worcester, Nashua, Lowell, Fitchburg, Rochester and 
Portland. 

Trains leave New London at 1.40 and 4 40 (Mondays excepted), Norwich 
at 2.25 and 5.20, 6.00, 11.45 A. M., and 4.45 p. M. 

Trains leave Worcester at 6.45, 10.00 A. M., and 5.00 and 8.05 P. M, 

P. St. M. ANDREWS, Supt. 

CENTRAL HOTEL, 

PROVIDENCE, R. I. 

ON THE EUROPEAN PLAN. 

i^^A STRICTLY TEMPERANCE ESTABLISHMENT. 

IVos. 6, 7 and 10 Canal Street. 



CENTRAL HOTEL C^FE, 

IVo. 16 Mortli main Street. 

For Ladies and Gentlemen. Finest Dining Room in the City. 

The BEST ICE CREAM constantly on hand. 

HOPKINS & SEARS, Proprietors, 
(vi.) 



CROCKER HOUSE, 



NEW LONDON, CONN. 



By far the Larpst anfl Finest Hotel in tlie City ! 



Although this house has been established but a few years, the excellence 
of its table, the neatness of its furniture, the modesty of its rates, and the 
courtesy of its management, have made it widely popular. 

Travelers passing through the city should try its fare in preference to that 
of railway eating houses. 

D. KELLOGG, Proprietor. 

'highland house, 

BLOCK ISLAND, (NEW SHOREHAM), R. L 

Entirely new in construction and appointments, and ready for guests the 
first of June. Finely located, and commands a wide view of the island and 
ocean beyond. Terms, moderate. Address 

D. A. MITCHELL. Proprietor. 



SEA-SIDE HOUSE, 

BLOCK ISLAND, (NEW SHOREHAM), R. I. 

Nearest Hotel on the island to the bathing beach : Accommodates 
limited number of guests comfortably : The best of plain fare, and the 
conveniences of private boarding-house. Terms, moderate. 

Address FRANK WILLIS, Proprietor, 

(vii.) 



OCEAN VIEW HOTEL, 

BLOCK ISLAND, (NEW SHOREHAM), R. L 

FINELY LOCATED, WELL APPOINTED, 

SPACIOUS, POPULAR. 

NEAREST HOTEL TO THE LANDING. 



OPEN ONLY THREE SEASONS 

AND DURING THAT TIME HAS 

QUADRUPLED ITS ACCOMMODATIONS 

TO MEET 

INCREASING BUSINESS. 

CHOICE FARE, 

MAGNIFICENT OUTLOOK, 

PROMPT ATTENDANCE, 

SELECT PATRONAGE. 

This Hotel has a bathing beach and bath-houses of its own, scarcely 
a hundred yards distant. 

Terms, from $12.50 to $11.50 a week, or $3.00 aflaf. 

SPECIAL RATES TO LARGE PARTIES. 

NICHOLAS BALL, Proprietor, 
(viii.) 



PROVIDENCE HOUSE, 

BLOCK ISLAND, (NEW SHOREHAM), R. L 

NEAREST HOTEL ON THE ISLAND TO THE OCEAN. 

SITUATED ON A HIGH BLUFF 
DIRECTLY OVERLOOKING THE WATER. 

OPENED FOR THE SEASON OF 1876, 

AND PROVIDED WITH APPOINTMENTS 

OF A 

MODERN SUMMER HOTEL. 

ONLY A FEW STEPS FROM POST-OFFICE, AND NEXT DOOR 

BUT ONE TO THE ISLAND DRUG STORE 

AND LOCAL PHYSICIAN. 

POPULAR, BECAUSE PLEASANT. 

Terms, $9.00 to $U.OO w Weel 

A. D. MITCHELL, Proprietor. 
(ix.) 



SPRING HOUSE 

BLOCK ISLAND, (NEW SHOREHAM), R. L 



THE BEST KNOWN AND LONGEST ESTABLLSHED HOTEL 
ON THE ISLAND. 

SITUATED ON A COMMANDING RISE OF GROUND. WITH 
CHARMING SURROUNDINGS AND A SPLENDID 

VIEW OF THE OCEAN : 
SPRINGS OF MINERAL WATER HIGHLY COM- 
MENDED FOR THEIR PROPERTIES CLOSE AT HAND, AND 
FREE TO ALL GUESTS. 

Extensive additions have been made to this Pioneer Hotel of Block 
Island, within the past few months, vastly enlarging its capacity and increas- 
ing its attractiveness. It will now accommodate a hundred and twenty-five 
guests. The dining room is lighted on three sides, the parlor is large, the 
entrance (from north and east) wide and airy, and lodging rooms of good 
size, and desirable. 

TERMS, MODERATE; 

The charges for apartments in the new portion of the house, however, being 
greater than in the old. 

Address B. B. MITCHELL, Jr., Proprietor. 
(X.) 



Adrian House, 

BLOCK ISLAND, (NEW SHOREHAM), R. L 



This Hotel is situated on an elevation two hundred yards 
from the landing, scarcely ten minutes' walk ; but a step from the post- 
office ; and only a short walk from the bathing beach. It overlooks the 
bay and government breakwater, and commands an extensive view, reach- 
ing even as far as the cliffs of Newport on a clear day. 

IT IS SURROUNDED BY A DELIGHTFUL LAWN, CONTAINS 

I LARGE, COMFORTABLE ROOMS., AND ITS TABLE WILL 

^ BE SUPPLIED WITH THE BEST THE MARKET 

AFFORDS. DINNERS W^ILL BE PROVIDED 

ESPECIALLY FOR EXCURSIONISrS, ON 

ARRIVAL OF BOATS. 

USE OF BATHING-HOUSES FURNISHED FREE TO GUESTS. 

CONVEYANCE TO THE BEACH OR BLUFFS, OR OTHER 

POINTS ON THE ISLAND, ON REASONABLE TERMS. 

Imi From $7 to $10 per weel, or $1.50 per flay. 

EXCURSION DINNERS, FIFTY CENTS. 

For further information, address CHARLES W. WILLIS, Proprietor. 

(xi.) 



LITTLEFIELD HOUSE. 

BLOCK ISLAND, (NEW SHOREHAM), R. I. 



This house, first opened for the season of 1876, was built in substantial 
and elegant style, with large, commodious sleeping apartments, large and 
airy dining hall, and all the appointments necessary for the comfort and 
convenience of summer guests. Will accommodate seventy-five people easily. 

The proprietor promises as good accommodations, for the price charged, 
as can be found in the country — a table supplied with all the market 
affords, in its season, and other facilities offered by summer hotels. 

$2.00 per day; or $10.00 to $15.00 per week. 

HALSEY C. LITTLEFIELD, Proprietor. 
THE HANDSOME NEW 

SAIL BOAT JUANITA 

Is owned by Mr. H. C. LITTLEFIELD, and can be secured for 
EXCURSIONS at the office of the above named Hotel, 
(xii.) 



WooNSOCKET House, 

BLOCK ISLAND, (NEW SHOREHAM), R. L 



NEAREST HOUSE BUT ONE TO THE BATHING BEACH : 

USE OF BATHING-HOUSES FREE TO GUESTS: 
TEAMS FURNISHED for EXCURSIONS AT MODERATE RATES: 

COMFORTABLE ROOMS: OBLIGING SERVANTS: 
EXCELLENT DOMESTIC FARE : EARLY BREAKFASTS GIVEN 

TO PARTIES GOING OUT FISHING: 
ACCOMMODATES FORTY REGULAR BOARDERS : 

DINNERS PROVIDED FOR DAY EXCURSIONISTS. 

TERMS, UNUSUALLY LOW AND SATISFACTORY. 

A. D. ROSE, Proprietor. 

BEACH HOUSE, 

BLOCK ISLAND, (NEW SHOREHAM), R. I. 



Small, but admirably located on an eminence overlooking 

the bay : Long a favorite private boarding-house 

before the island came into general notice : 

Good fare and attendance. 



I 



Terms, $1.50 per day; $7 to $9 per week. 

M. M. DAY, Proprietor, 
(xiii.) 



THE MOST POPULAR RESORT IN NORWICH IS 

Burnham's Bookstore 



All New Books received as soon as piiWislel 

ANY BOOK MAILED, ON RECEIPT OF PRICE. 



WHOLESALE AND RETAIL DEALER IN 

BOOKS, STATIONERY, PAPER HANGINGS, AND MANU- 
FACTURER OF BLANK BOOKS. 



ENGLISH TOOTH BRUSHES, Sold by L.anman & Sevin, Norwich. 
FR AGKANT COLOGNE ^VATER, Sold by Lanmau & Sevin, Norwich. 
CHOICE WINES and LIC^UORS, Sold by Laniuan & Sevin, Norwich. 

Lanman & Sevin, ""^'Zt' 

FAMILY MEDICINE STORE 

One of the firm can be found at the store to overlook and give their personal attention to 
the compounding of Physicians' Prescriptions, and the Dispensing of Medicines for Families. 

CAMP'S CREAITI OF ROSES. Its use, for a few days, will 

make the skin as soft as velvet, and impart to it a white and beautiful freshness. Rough- 
ness of the Skin, Pimples, Chapped Face, Lips and Hands, Red and Irritated Skin, 
Freckles, Sunburn and Tan vanish almost as by magic, under its rapidly soothing and heal- 
ing properties. Gentlemen, after shaving, will find it just the article for their use: its de- 
lightful fragrance, the promptness with which it acts, and its being perfectly harmless, make 
it almost an indispensable article in every family For sale by Lanman & Sevin, Druggists 
Norwich, Conn. 

(xiv.) 



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